Louis Bertrand

Louis Bertrand (1866 – 1941) was a
French novelist, historian and essayist. He was the third member elected to
occupy seat 4 of the Académie française in 1925.

“Arabs have never invented anything except Islam... they have made absolutely no
addition to the ancient heritage of Greco-Latin civilization.

“It is only a superficial knowledge that has been able to accept without
critical examination the belief current among Christians during the Middle
Ages, which attributed to Islam the Greek science and philosophy of which
Christianity had no longer any knowledge. In the centuries that have followed,
the Sectarian spirit has found it to be to its interest to confirm and
propagate this error. In its hatred of Christianity it has had to give Islam
the honour of what was the invention, and, if we may so express it, the
personal property of our intellectual ancestors.[10]

“On
the influence of Islam on Christian Europe:

“The worst characteristic which the Spaniards acquired was
the parasitism of the Arabs and the nomad Africans: the custom of living off
one's neighbour's territory, the
raid raised to the level of an institution, marauding and brigandage recognized
as the sole means of existence for the man-at-arms. In the same way they went
to win their bread in Moorish territory, so the Spaniards later went to
win gold and territory in Mexico and Peru.

“They were to introduce there, too, the barbarous,
summary practices of the Arabs: putting everything to fire and sword, cutting
down fruit-trees, razing crops, devastating whole districts to starve out the
enemy and bring them to terms; making slaves everywhere, condemning the
population of the conquered countries to forced labour. All these detestable
ways the conquistadores learnt from the Arabs.

“For several centuries slavery maintained itself in
Christian Spain, as in the Islamic lands. Very certainly, also, it was to the
Arabs that the Spaniards owed the intransigence of their fanaticism, the
pretension to be, if not the chosen of God, at least the most Catholic nation
of Christendom. Philip II, like Abd er Rahman or El Mansour, was Defender of
the Faith.

“Finally, it was not without contagion that the
Spaniards lived for centuries in contact with a race of men who crucified their
enemies and gloried in piling up thousands of severed heads by way of trophies.
The cruelty of the Arabs and the Berbers also founded a school in the
Peninsula. The ferocity of the emirs and the caliphs who killed their brothers
or their sons with their own hands was to be handed on to Pedro the Cruel and
Henry of Trastamare, those stranglers under canvas, no better than common
assassins.[75]”

AND NOW, for illustrative quotes on Islam from the son and
grandson of Kenyan born Muslims, a world class and credentialed historian, and
a man notable for his robust and unimpeachable honesty and integrity, Imam
Barack Hussein Obama, see:

#8 “These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold
in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the
dignity of all human beings.”

#9 “America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in
competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and
progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”#10“I made clear that America is not – and never will be – at war with
Islam.”

#11 “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent
extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”

#12 “So I have known Islam on three continents before
coming to the region where it was first revealed”

#13 “In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities
have been at the forefront of innovation and education.”

#16 “The Holy Koran tells us, ‘O mankind! We have created
you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you
may know one another.’”

#17 “I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating
Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month.”

#18 “We’ve seen those results in generations of Muslim
immigrants – farmers and factory workers, helping to lay the railroads and
build our cities, the Muslim innovators who helped build some of our highest
skyscrapers and who helped unlock the secrets of our universe.”#19 “That experience guides my conviction that partnership
between America and Islammust be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I
consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to
fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”

#20“I
also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.”

OR, beside Imam Obama’s
insights above, a few Quranic verses that have insired many Islamo-fascists.

Qur'an 3:32—Say:
Obey Allah and the Apostle; but if they turn back, then surely Allah does not
love the unbelievers.

Qur'an 48:29—Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are severe against
disbelievers, and merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and falling
down prostrate (in prayer), seeking Bounty from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure.
The mark of them (i.e. of their Faith) is on their faces (foreheads) from the
traces of (their) prostration (during prayers). This is their description in
the Taurat (Torah). But their description in the Injeel (Gospel) is like a
(sown) seed which sends forth its shoot, then makes it strong, it then becomes
thick, and it stands straight on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may
enrage the disbelievers with them. Allah has promised those among them who
believe (i.e. all those who follow Islamic Monotheism, the religion of Prophet
Muhammad SAW till the Day of Resurrection) and do righteous good deeds,
forgiveness and a mighty reward (i.e. Paradise).

Qur'an 4:24—Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those
(captives and slaves) whom your right hands possess. Thus hath Allah ordained
(Prohibitions) against you: Except for these, all others are lawful, provided
ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts from your property—desiring chastity, not
lust, seeing that ye derive benefit from them, give them their dowers (at
least) as prescribed; but if, after a dower is prescribed, agree mutually (to
vary it), there is no blame on you, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

Qur'an 5:33—The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His
apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should
be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on
opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for
them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous
chastisement.

Qur'an 9:5—Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters
wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare
for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the
poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Qur'an 9:29—Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day
[notice it says "fight those who do not believe," not "fight
people who are attacking you"], nor hold that forbidden which hath been
forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth,
from among the People of the Book [the people of the book are Jews and
Christians], until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel
themselves subdued.

Qur'an 9:73—O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the
hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the
destination.

Qur'an 9:111—Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and
their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's
way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the
Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant
than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is
the mighty achievement.

Qur'an 47:35—Be not weary and fainthearted, crying for peace, when ye
should be uppermost: for Allah is with you, and will never put you in loss for
your (good) deeds.

Qur'an 2:106—Whatever
communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than
it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?

From the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the Collect for
Good Friday:

O MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing
that thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather that he
should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and
Hereticks, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of
thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may be
saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under one
shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Lutheran

Presbyterian

About Me

Retired. Reformed and Presbyterian by background, but dedicated to the Anglican Prayerbook with degrees from Presbyterian and Episcopal seminaries. Informed by both traditions. Not giving up the 1662 BCP for the Presbyterians and not giving up the Westminster Standards for the Anglicans.